LO high school open after bomb threat

The third bomb threat in two weeks at local schools came in the form of a note left at Lake Oswego High School on the morning of Monday, Jan. 27.

The threat was reported soon after a Lake Oswego School District employee came across the threatening note at 6 a.m. School was delayed two hours, so students would not be present in a potentially dangerous situation. About 10 Lake Oswego police officers  about one-fourth of the officers on staff  scoured the property for almost three hours but found no explosive devices.

Its a big property with a lot of buildings and a lot of places to look, Sgt. Tom Hamann said. It takes a while to do that safely.

Hamann said the search for the suspect is ongoing, and the note is a good start.

He said he could not release the contents of the note and other details during an open investigation.

One call came in to the school at about 10:30 a.m. Friday, and the other came in at 12:38 p.m. Friday. Administrators evacuated the building, and several LOPD officers spent an hour at the school both times.

Its frustrating, and its scary, and its disruptive, but we have to take ( bomb threat) seriously when it happens, said Nancy Duin, Lake Oswego School District communications director.

No one was injured during the incidents, and students returned to class as usual.

The person who called on Friday was whispering, Duin said.

The last time Duin recalls a similar incident occurring was about a decade ago at Lakeridge High School when someone made several consecutive phony bomb threats.

Eventually the police did find the perpetrator, and it was a student, she said.

Hamann said if a suspect is arrested, he or she could be charged with disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor.

It is potentially dangerous for people to call in a fake bomb threat because students could get hurt during the evacuation and emergency officials could be injured when responding to the incident, Hamann said. Authorities time could be better spent on helping people who need it, he added.

Its a tremendous drain of resources, Hamann said.

Police are asking that anyone with information call the nonemergency police line: 503-635-0238.